How To Survive Professional Rejection

This is a guest post by Michelle Ward. Michelle pounded the pavement for almost 20 years trying to break into Broadway, sometimes getting cast, frequently getting turned down.  These days she’s The When I Grow Up Coach, helping creative types find the careers they didn’t think they could have.  Say hello on Twitter or  Facebook!

It’s happened to the best of us.  The boutique doesn’t pick up your line, you only sell two things at the trunk show, seventeen different bloggers ignore your emails.  Putting yourself out there day after day is part of growing a business.  It also means you’ll (probably) get rejected on the regular.  Here are few ways to weather the storm of rejection without losing site of the shore.

● After each audition/submission/project completion, keep a record of What Went Right and What Was Broken. For example, I might leave an audition and write down that I made the Casting Director laugh with my song, but I didn’t feel comfortable in the dress I was wearing. By taking a more third-person account as to what happened it puts you in the role of recorder/historian/archivist and can help pinpoint what you need to Stop Doing, what you need to Keep Doing, and what you need to Start Doing from an objective point-of-view.

● Write in your Win Book every night, coming up with at least one thing that happened that day that helped you move forward with your dream/goal. Even if the boutique didn’t want to stock your product, it was a Win that you even offered! Even if you didn’t make as much money as you wanted at that craft fair, it was a Win that you had 50 people sign up for the contest you were promoting at your table!

● Do it and forget it. I had to train my mother to never follow-up with me on any audition I ever went on – if I got a callback or got cast, I’d let her know. I did it, told her how it went, and then promptly put it out of my mind – my work was done.   While I think that might have accounted for the pessimistic-optimist (hope for the best, expect the worst) perspective I had for years, I think if I did it along with keeping a Win Book and a Third-Person Report, it would’ve changed my attitude.

● Focus on what you can control. You can’t control if someone casts you for the part, or thinks that your stationary line is right for their store, or wants to buy your earrings as a present for their friend. You can control being prepared for the audition, advertising your earrings, and having a catalogue of your stationary professionally done. Don’t let anything else hit you too hard – it was beyond your control.

How do you deal with professional rejection?  Any tips to share?

Sarah Von is a Vianza contributing columnist and interview wrangler.  If you follow her on Twitter, you’ll be privy to all sort of tweets about small business, good ideas and, um, cheese.

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